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FAST-PACED MOVE Disinvestment receipts are crucial for meeting fiscal deficit target, given that govt wants to continue public capital spending Big-ticket share buybacks by state-run companies, including Coal India and ONGC, are on the cards to help the government meet its disinvestment target for the year. Cash-rich central public sector enterprises are expected to lead this drive to ensure that the Rs.56,500-crore target is met.“To professionally manage surpluses, some CPSEs are considering merit-based restructuring of capital, which includes buybacks.These are being considered on a case-to-case basis,“ said a senior official with the Department of Investment & Public Asset Management. At present, the government is looking at a 10% buyback in National Aluminium Company , which had Rs.4,627.98 cash and bank balances of ` crore at end of March 2015. Other cash-rich companies that may offer buybacks include Coal India, Oil & Natural Gas Corp., NMDC, Bharat Heavy Electricals and N…

The Income Tax (I-T) department will now add interest amount to a delayed refund made on excess tax deducted at source (TDS) cuts and will also not litigate with the deductor on this issue in the future, a latest directive has said. The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has issued a directive in this regard to the assessing officers of the I-T department based on a 2014 Supreme Court order, where the apex court had made it clear that the taxman is “bound” to pay an interest on refund made under the TDS category. TDS is primarily deducted by the employer from the salary paid to an employee. “In view of the judgment of the apex court, it is settled that if a resident deductor is entitled for the refund of tax deposited under Section 195 (other sums) of the Act (Income Tax Act), then it has to be refunded with interest under section 244A from the date of payment of such tax,” the CBDT communication issued on Tuesday said. The CBDT has further directed that “accordingly, it is advised th…

Further tightening the norms in commodity derivatives trade, The Securities and Exchange Board of India ( Sebi) has asked commodity exchanges to adopt the same proprietary trading practices as in securities markets. Comexes have been told to accordingly change their rules According to trade sources, many brokers currently take front- end positions in comexes in proprietary accounts, later transferred to clients’ accounts through client code modifications (CCM). Sources estimate 25- 30 per cent of trades go through in this manner. “Once this circular is adopted, such practices would stop,” said a senior official with a leading brokerage. Earlier, Sebi had asked exchanges to use CCM only in extreme cases. The current circular is meant to increase the transparency in dealings between a stock broker and clients in commodity derivatives. Sebi circular, dated November 19, 2003, also says proprietary trade should only be done from the registered office of a broker, a practice adopted by equit…

The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked the government to come up with a proposal for appointment of a committee to look into the issues raised regarding bad loans and huge write- offs by public sector banks. A Bench of Chief Justice of India TS Thakur asked the Centre and Reserve Bank of India ( RBI) to respond to various issues raised by senior advocate Prashant Bhushan of the Centre for Public Interest Litigation in the matter. The court also allowed Indian Banks’ Association, another respondent, to file a response. The court was hearing a public interest litigation petition filed in 2003 by the CPIL against Hudco, which has since been widened to include RBI, banks and other financial institutions. The matter was adjourned to July 19. After going through the various issues raised by Bhushan, including adequacy of promoter guarantee, safeguards against bank- shopping and evergreening of loans, Thakur said, “ We are not financial experts,” adding, “ You propose acommittee to look into it. We …